<h1>Big Ben</h1>
<h3>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</h3>
<p>
Big Ben (or known in other solitaire brands as Clock) is a solitaire card game
which uses two decks of playing cards mixed together. It is basically a
large-scale, two-deck version of <a
href="grandfathersclock.html">Grandfather's Clock</a> and is probably named
after Big Ben, the colloquially used nickname for the clock face at the tower
of the Palace of Westminster in London.
<p>
Before the start of the game, the following cards are separated from the
decks: 2<img src="../images/c.gif">, 3<img src="../images/h.gif">, 4<img
src="../images/s.gif">, 5<img src="../images/d.gif">, 6<img
src="../images/c.gif">, 7<img src="../images/h.gif">, 8<img
src="../images/s.gif">, 9<img src="../images/d.gif">, 10<img
src="../images/c.gif">, J<img src="../images/h.gif">, Q<img
src="../images/s.gif">, K<img src="../images/d.gif">. These cards to form a
circle arranged like numbers on a clock face with the 2<img
src="../images/c.gif"> on the "9 o' clock" position, the 5<img
src="../images/d.gif"> at the "12 o' clock" position, and the K<img
src="../images/d.gif"> at the "8 o' clock." This will be the foundations, or
the "inner circle" (otherwise known as the "clock").
<p>
Twelves piles of three cards are then dealt around the inner circle. These
piles form the tableau, or the "outer circle." The top cards of the outer
circle are available for play to the inner circle or around the outer circle.
Building on the outer circle is down by suit, while the foundations in the
inner circle are built up by suit until the last card corresponds to the its
position on the clock (i.e. the Q<img src="../images/s.gif"> should be built
up to 7<img src="../images/s.gif">, for instance). Building is also
continuous, with Aces placed over Kings in the inner circle and vice versa in
the outer circle.
<p>
It should be noted that the minimum number of cards in each pile in the outer
circle is three. A pile containing less than three cards is said to have gaps;
an empty pile has three "gaps," a pile having one card has two "gaps," and a
pile with two cards has one "gap." As cards are built, "gaps" are formed and
the only way these are "filled" is by dealing cards from the stock. Building
on a pile having cards less than three is like "filling a gap" from the
tableau and is therefore not allowed.
<p>
It is the player's discretion when to fill the "gaps," but when the player
decides to do so, one has to fill all "gaps," i. e. replenish all piles with
less than three cards so each of them contains three cards once again. For
example, two piles are empty, one pile has one card left, and two piles have
two cards left. So the player has to fill a total of 10 gaps. He does this by
dealing cards one card per pile at a time clockwise starting from the pile
above the "12 o' clock" foundation. No building is done until this process is
complete. The player can do this as long as there are "gaps."
<p>
Sometimes, the player cannot make any moves even when all piles contain three
cards each. So the player can deal cards from the stock one at a time. Cards
that cannot be built either onto the inner or outer circles are placed on the
wastepile (as a suggestion, one can place the wastepile at the center of the
inner circle for convenience). Again, cards at the wastepile cannot be used to
fill "gaps." But once the stock is exhausted, there are no redeals; the game
ends sooner after this or later.
<p>
The game is successfully won when all foundations show cards corresponding to
their positions in the clock (J<img src="../images/s.gif"> on "11 o' clock,"
Q<img src="../images/d.gif"> on "12 o' clock," A<img src="../images/c.gif"> on
"1 o' clock," and so on.)
<p>
<i>(Retrieved from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben_%28solitaire%29">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben_(solitaire)</a>)</i>
